Sound Blaster® Xfitm Testing Methodology & Results For
RMAA v5.5
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
July 2005 Products furnished by Creative are believed to be accurate and reliable. However, Creative reserves the right to make changes at any time, in its sole discretion, to the products. CREATIVE DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES FOR THE PRODUCTS PROVIDED HEREUNDER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NOR DOES IT MAKE ANY WARRANTY FOR ANY INFRINGEMENT OF PATENTS OR OTHER RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE PRODUCTS. Creative assumes no obligation to correct any errors contained in the products provided hereunder or to advise product users of any correction if such be made. Customers are advised to obtain the latest version of product specification, and Creative gives no assurance that Creative’s products are appropriate for any application by any particular customer. Creative products are not intended for use in life support appliances, devices, or systems.
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Copyright ©2003 Creative Technology Ltd. All rights reserved. The Creative logo, Sound Blaster, the Sound Blaster logo, Sound Blaster Live!, Sound Blaster Audigy, Sound Blaster X-Fi, Creative Inspire, Creative WaveStudio, Creative MediaSource, EAX, ADVANCED HD, EAX ADVANCED HD™ and the EAX ADVANCED HD logo, CMSS-3D, OpenAL and Smart Volume Management are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. in the United States and/or other countries. E-MU and SoundFont are registered trademarks of E-MU Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. NOMAD is a registered trademark of Aonix and is used by Creative Technology Ltd., and/or its affiliates under license. Dolby and the double-D symbol, Dolby Digital, Dolby Surround and MLP Lossless are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. DTS, DTS-ES Extended Surround and Neo:6 are trademarks of Digital Theater Systems, Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademark and DirectSound 3D and Windows Media are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. THX is a registered trademark of THX Ltd. Advanced Resolution and the Advanced Resolution logo are trademarks of RIAA. The DVD-Audio logo is a trademark of DVD FLLC. Cubasis and WaveLab are trademarks of and VST is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies AG. MPEG Layer-3 audio compression technology licensed by Fraunhofer IIS and THOMSON multimedia. The Gracenote CDDB logo is a trademark of Gracenote. All other logos, brand or product names are trademarks of their respective holders.
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Testing Methodology using RMAA v5.5 In this section, we will guide you through setting up your Sound Blaster® X-Fi, for RMAA measurement in real-time 24-bit/96kHz Playback and Recording using the Analog Inputs and Outputs. Comparison charts for the 16-bit/48kHz and 16-bit/44.1kHz results are also included. These Analog I/O tests prove that superb quality analog audio inputs and outputs are achieved from very high quality DAC, ADC and board design. Setting Up RMAA for Analog Measurement: • Launch RMAA v5.5
This latest version of the RMAA can be downloaded from the following web site: http://audio.rightmark.org/download.shtml
• Select the bit depth and sampling rate you which to test.
Note that Sound Blaster X-Fi max playback sampling rate is 192kHz, but the max recording sampling rate is 96kHz. Therefore the resolution must be set to 24-bit, 96kHz (or lower) for the test to work.
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
• Click on “Test Options”, “Display” and select “Display full frequency range (up to Fs/2)”.
• Loopback cable connection: Connect a 3.5mm mini-Stereo cable from Line Out 1 to Line In located at the top of the
soundcard back panel. • Establishing playback and recording levels:
Disable All Effects, including CMSS-3D, EAX, 24-Bit Crystalizer, Graphic Equalizer, THX Setup.
Click “Adjust I/O Levels”, Launch Audio Creation Mode (using the Sound Blaster X-Fi Mode Switcher app) and
adjust the mixer with followings settings:
Sound Blaster X-Fi: - Master Sampling Rate: Matched to the test performed e.g. 96kHz - Master Volume: 94% - Wave: 100% - All Others: 0% and Muted - Record Source: Line-In/Mic-In @ 50% (no record gain, i.e. 0dB)
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Sound Blaster X-Fi Audio Creation Mode Mixer Settings
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
• Now you can begin your tests by clicking on the “Run tests” panel. • Results are presented in plots and are also tabulated.
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Results from RMAA v5.5 Tests
Summary results for Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
(Model Number SB0550)
Testing chain: External loopback (line-out - line-in) Sampling mode: 24-bit, 96 kHz
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.01, -0.07 Excellent
Noise level, dB (A): -113.3 Excellent
Dynamic range, dB (A): 112.5 Excellent
THD, %: 0.0007 Excellent
IMD + Noise, %: 0.0010 Excellent
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -102.8 Excellent
IMD at 10 kHz, %: 0.0009 Excellent
General performance: Excellent
Full results (Sampling mode: 24-bit, 96 kHz)
Frequency response
Frequency range Response
From 20 Hz to 20 kHz, dB -0.20, +0.01
From 40 Hz to 15 kHz, dB -0.07, +0.01
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Noise level
Parameter Left Right
RMS power, dB: -112.7 -112.3
RMS power (A-weighted), dB: -113.3 -112.7
Peak level, dB FS: -84.7 -84.6
DC offset, %: 0.00 0.00
Dynamic range
Parameter Left Right
Dynamic range, dB: +112.6 +112.1
Dynamic range (A-weighted), dB: +113.2 +112.5
DC offset, %: 0.00 0.00
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Parameter Left Right
THD, %: 0.0008 0.0007
THD + Noise, %: 0.0010 0.0008
THD + Noise (A-weighted), %: 0.0012 0.0010
Intermodulation distortion
Parameter Left Right
IMD + Noise, %: 0.0011 0.0010
IMD + Noise (A-weighted), %: 0.0008 0.0007
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Stereo crosstalk
Parameter L <- R L -> R
Crosstalk at 100 Hz, dB: -105 -108
Crosstalk at 1 kHz, dB: -102 -101
Crosstalk at 10 kHz, dB: -82 -82
IMD (swept tones)
Parameter Left Right
IMD + Noise at 5 kHz, %: 0.0011 0.0010
IMD + Noise at 10 kHz, %: 0.0009 0.0008
IMD + Noise at 15 kHz, %: 0.0009 0.0008
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Comparison of: SB0550 @ 16-bit/44.1kHz, 16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96 kHz
Test SB0550 [16/44.1]
SB0550 [16/48]
SB0550 [24/48]
SB0550 [24/96]
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.01, -0.07 +0.01, -0.07 +0.01, -0.07 +0.01, -0.07
Noise level, dB (A): -94.8 -95.1 -113.0 -113.3
Dynamic range, dB (A): 94.7 95.1 112.8 112.5
THD, %: 0.0009 0.0009 0.0007 0.0007
IMD + Noise, %: 0.0051 0.0049 0.0010 0.0010
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -95.1 -95.5 -102.7 -102.8
Frequency response
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Noise level
Dynamic range
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation distortion
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Stereo crosstalk
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Summary results for Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic
Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS
(Model Number SB0460)
Testing chain: External loopback (line-out - line-in) Sampling mode: 24-bit, 96 kHz
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.02, -0.17 Very good
Noise level, dB (A): -102.2 Excellent
Dynamic range, dB (A): 102.0 Excellent
THD, %: 0.0008 Excellent
IMD + Noise, %: 0.0025 Excellent
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -98.6 Excellent
IMD at 10 kHz, %: 0.0052 Excellent
General performance: Excellent
Full results (Sampling mode: 24-bit, 96 kHz)
Frequency response
Frequency range Response
From 20 Hz to 20 kHz, dB -0.66, +0.02
From 40 Hz to 15 kHz, dB -0.17, +0.02
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Noise level
Parameter Left Right
RMS power, dB: -101.0 -100.9
RMS power (A-weighted), dB: -102.2 -102.0
Peak level, dB FS: -78.3 -78.1
DC offset, %: 0.00 0.00
Dynamic range
Parameter Left Right
Dynamic range, dB: +101.1 +100.9
Dynamic range (A-weighted), dB: +102.2 +102.0
DC offset, %: 0.00 0.00
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Parameter Left Right
THD, %: 0.0012 0.0008
THD + Noise, %: 0.0023 0.0020
THD + Noise (A-weighted), %: 0.0023 0.0019
Intermodulation distortion
Parameter Left Right
IMD + Noise, %: 0.0027 0.0025
IMD + Noise (A-weighted), %: 0.0024 0.0023
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Stereo crosstalk
Parameter L <- R L -> R
Crosstalk at 100 Hz, dB: -92 -92
Crosstalk at 1 kHz, dB: -94 -98
Crosstalk at 10 kHz, dB: -94 -89
IMD (swept tones)
Parameter Left Right
IMD + Noise at 5 kHz, %: 0.0047 0.0043
IMD + Noise at 10 kHz, %: 0.0050 0.0046
IMD + Noise at 15 kHz, %: 0.0071 0.0066
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Comparison of: SB0460 @ 16-bit/44.1kHz, 16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96 kHz
Test SB0460 [16/44.1]
SB0460 [16/48]
SB0460 [24/48]
SB0460 [24/96]
Frequency response (from 40 Hz to 15 kHz), dB: +0.02, -0.08 +0.01, -0.09 +0.01, -0.09 +0.02, -0.17
Noise level, dB (A): -94.1 -94.5 -102.1 -102.2
Dynamic range, dB (A): 94.0 94.3 101.6 102.0
THD, %: 0.0009 0.0009 0.0008 0.0008
IMD + Noise, %: 0.0057 0.0054 0.0026 0.0025
Stereo crosstalk, dB: -97.0 -94.5 -101.5 -98.6
Frequency response
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Noise level
Dynamic range
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
THD + Noise (at -3 dB FS)
Intermodulation distortion
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Sound Blaster® X-Fi® RMAA Testing Methodology and Results
Stereo crosstalk